My mama’s Bubbe, who virtually raised her in a glatt kosher household, insisted that kosher pickles contained no vinegar in the brine, and were always cold pickled. A rabbi I had a conversation with on Twitter maintains that the pickles are prepared using equipment and containers that have not come into contact with any non-kosher foods, and that the brine contains no non-kosher ingredients, but didn’t mention vinegar. Others said that kosher dill pickles are an oxymoron, because kosher pickles don’t have dill in them, while others claim that dill and garlic are the major flavor ingredients.
So what makes kosher pickles kosher? Just that little certification (you know, the circle with the “k” in it)? Is there a definitive recipe for “kosher” pickles? If you make them at home, do you have to hire a rabbi to bless them in your kitchen? I don’t keep kosher, so if I make the pickles in my own kitchen, are they, by definition, treyf?
This neither pressing nor important, but I’m aflame with curiosity.
So what makes kosher pickles kosher? Just that little certification (you know, the circle with the “k” in it)? Is there a definitive recipe for “kosher” pickles? If you make them at home, do you have to hire a rabbi to bless them in your kitchen? I don’t keep kosher, so if I make the pickles in my own kitchen, are they, by definition, treyf?
This neither pressing nor important, but I’m aflame with curiosity.